This invention relates to matter wave optical systems.
It is known that matter such as neutral atoms exhibits wave characteristics known as matter or deBroglie waves. It is also known that resonant standing light waves form an effective diffraction grating for neutral atoms. Such resonant standing waves have been proposed to split an atomic beam into two mutually coherent beams which can be used for interferometry. See, "Interference of Atoms in Separated Optical Fields" by V. P. Chebotayev et al., Vol. 2, No. 11, J. Opt. Soc. Am., November 1985. The applicants herein have demonstrated the splitting of an atomic beam into two mutually coherent beams by the use of resonant standing waves. The angular deflections of neutral atom beams generated by light gratings are small requiring relatively long interferometer paths to physically separate the beams.